


Semester Two

by Lithal



Series: Dorks in University [3]
Category: Haikyuu!!, Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Oblivious Kasamatsu, University Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-04
Updated: 2018-05-04
Packaged: 2019-05-01 13:06:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14521212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lithal/pseuds/Lithal
Summary: Words used: jog, ay, and, of, ah, pi, ho, souls, lyre, jib, aqua, sows, zen, tax, seise, vee, disk, brides, von, dos, et, mas.





	Semester Two

“Welcome back to hell,” Kuroo greeted his roommate the day before their second semester began.

Kasamatsu rolled his eyes at him before answering. “Thanks for the reminder. How was your break?”

“It was great. Didn’t want to come back,” Kuroo said, wrinkling his nose. “Yours? Did you hang out with Kise?” Kuroo saw that his eyebrow wiggle was completely lost on his roommate, who frowned a little at his question.

“I hung out with the old team,” he said.

“But not with just Kise?” Kuroo asked, sighing internally when Kasamatsu nodded. “Right, okay. What’s your schedule like this semester?” he asked, deciding to bring the conversation to something that wouldn’t be completely lost on Kasamatsu.

“Not too bad, actually. I start late every day,” he replied.

“Cool, you up to making a morning jog a habit?” Kuroo asked.

“Sure,” Kasamatsu answered. “It’ll stop me from sleeping in and being a lazy piece of shit all semester.” 

“Ay, planning on being productive, are we? I admire you,” Kuroo said, tipping an imaginary hat to his roommate, who rolled his eyes again. Kuroo grinned.

“So, uh,” Kasamatsu began. “Since it’s the second semester and all, I was wondering if you’ve thought about living arrangements for next year?”

Kuroo turned his laptop towards Kasamatsu to show him what he’d been looking at. “Yeah, I was just looking at that. You want to find a place together?”

“Yeah, if you don’t already have plans to room with somebody else,” Kasamatsu said.

Kuroo turned his laptop back around before answering. “Kenma got accepted here, and he wants to room with me, but we can find a two-bedroom apartment if you want in.”

“Yeah, that would be great,” Kasamatsu said. “I’ll start looking for places too. Are we only looking at apartments then?”

“Yeah, Kenma won’t want to live with strangers in a student house. To be fair, I’d rather not do that either,” Kuroo answered. “Potential for lots of problems. I’ve heard horror stories from upper years. Better the devil you know,” he said, flashing a grin at Kasamatsu. “Besides, that way we’ll have space for another potential housemate too,” he couldn’t help adding, but the implications were once again lost on his roommate, judging from his blank look.

 

“Hey, there’s this apartment I found that’s pretty close to campus and cheap. Want to check it out this weekend?” Kuroo asked Kasamtasu a month into the semester. They hadn’t really found any places that looked good yet, so this was an exciting prospect, at least for Kuroo. He’d had a busy week, and he was jumping at the chance to take a trip off campus, even if it was only about fifteen minutes away.

“Yeah, I’m down,” Kasamatsu said. “What better way to put off studying for a midterm.”

“I know right. I’ve got an assignment I should probably start working on, but…” Kuroo said. “Anyway, you mentioned Kise was coming over to visit this weekend? He could go with us if he wants.”

“Ah, right. I did say that. He’d probably jump at the chance,” Kasamatsu said with a wry smile. “Is Kenma coming with us?”

“No, he’ll probably just stay in here,” Kuroo answered with a shrug. “He told me he’d trust my judgement. Which really means he just wants to stay indoors and play games.”

 

“You still down to go check out the apartment?” Kuroo asked Kasamatsu that Saturday morning. The shocked look Kasamatsu threw him didn’t look promising.

“I totally forgot…and signed up for a second year program thing,” he said apologetically. Then he groaned. “Shit, Kise’s still coming over too.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll drag him along to see the apartment with me,” Kuroo said with a grin. “He can be there in your stead. And it’s not like you’re going to be at the event all day. Ours is only set to last a couple hours.”

Kasamatsu apologized for leaving Kise to him before heading out to the event. After he had gone, Kenma spoke disapprovingly. “You really shouldn’t meddle.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t,” he said. When Kenma narrowed his eyes at him, he held up his hands in defeat. “Really, I won’t meddle. I’m genuinely curious about how long it’s going to take him to figure it out.” He grinned at Kenma. “Want to bet on it?” When Kenma didn’t immediately shut down the idea, Kuroo’s grin widened.

“Okay,” Kenma said. “What are we betting on?”

Kuroo mused. “Let’s go with him figuring out his own feelings.”

“Second semester, second year,” Kenma said promptly. “Only if you don’t interfere before that. And he’ll figure it out because you give in and meddle by that time.”

“That was…very specific,” Kuroo said. “I’m hurt you don’t have faith in me. I say first semester second year. If I win, I pick out the sheets for our room next year.”

“If I win, you _never_ pick out the sheets for our place.”

Before Kuroo could protest the unfairness of this pronouncement, his phone buzzed and he checked it to find that Kise was outside the building. He headed downstairs and let him in, the two returning to the room.

“Hi Kenma,” Kise said cheerfully. Kenma returned the greeting with a nod. “Senpai said he wouldn’t be back until later?” he said, and Kuroo nodded.

“Yeah, so you’re going with me to look at an apartment,” Kuroo informed Kise.

“When?” Kise asked, not opposed to the idea.

“Our appointment’s in twenty minutes, so we should leave now, actually,” Kuroo said, grabbing his keys and his jacket. “Bye, Kenma.”

They found the apartment easily. It was nestled between two other buildings, both of which looked a lot newer and a lot less rundown than it.

“This doesn’t look very promising,” Kuroo commented.

“It really doesn’t,” Kise agreed. “Looks like the kind of place that would house an axe-murderer in a movie.”

“We might as well look at the apartment,” Kuroo said. “Might be decent.” He wasn’t hopeful, but they were students and they had a budget.

The apartment was on the ninth floor, and they had to climb the stairs because the building didn’t have an elevator, for some godforsaken reason. The apartment was a decent size, but it was extremely dirty, and Kuroo did not trust the reassurances that it would be cleaned before they moved in.

“That was a total bust,” Kuroo said after they’d thanked the owner and walked out.

“Why did you even decide to check this out?” Kise asked. “I wouldn’t have bothered.”

“It didn’t look anywhere near as disgusting in the pictures,” Kuroo said. “Heh, I guess it’s back to square one. No wonder this was so cheap.”

 “You should try looking at smaller buildings with fewer apartments,” Kise suggested. “Someone I know lives in one of those and she says they’re usually pretty good.”

“I’ll do that, thanks,” Kuroo said. “So, how’s school been?”

Kise shrugged. “It’s fine. I didn’t do that well on my math test, so coach made me memorize the first twenty digits of pi. I wish he wouldn’t get on my case like this. I play well, so why does he care about my grades?” he complained.

“You know you’re supposed to focus on academics more than on clubs, right?” Kuroo said, as they walked back. He decided to take a detour at a bubble tea place. “If your grades aren’t high enough, they’ll have to kick you off the team. And just focusing on basketball isn’t going to help much unless you’re really good and get scouted by a team. Even if you want a sports scholarship you’ll need to maintain your GPA.”

Kise pouted, obviously not having expected a lecture from the usually laid-back Kuroo. “I could go pro or be a model. I don’t need grades for that.”

“I don’t want to discourage you or anything,” Kuroo began, switching into serious captain mode, which was as much a remnant from high school as an integral part of his personality. “But very few high school athletes go pro, and you probably shouldn’t rely on your modeling as a full-time career either. Isn’t there anything else you want to do?” They had reached the bubble tea place, and Kuroo let Kise think about his question after asking him what he wanted. He ordered the drinks, not talking until they were back outside. “Well?” he asked Kise.

Kise still looked sulky, but he eventually answered, “I guess being a commercial airline pilot would be cool.”

“You should look into that, then,” Kuroo said encouragingly. “You’ve still got some time, but you should really start thinking about what you want after high school.” 

Kise still looked unhappy with the impromptu life advice, but nodded in what Kuroo hoped was agreement. “If I’d said any of this to senpai, he’d probably have yelled at me,” he said with a wry smile.

Kuroo shrugged. “It’s probably a lingering effect of having to captain your pain-in-the-ass basketball team.”

“We weren’t that bad,” Kise protested. “He mostly only yelled at me.”

“You were the major pain in his ass, then,” Kuroo said with a teasing smirk that turned into an amused grin when Kise’s cheeks pinked a little. “Ho? You’re blushing.”

“It’s the cold,” Kise retorted. Kuroo decided to save the teasing for a more opportune moment.

 

“Sorry I had to ditch you,” Kasamatsu said when he returned from the event. “How was the apartment?”

“Shitty,” Kuroo replied. “It was dirty, smelled like weed, and there were no elevators so we had to climb nine flights of stairs. You should’ve seen the disgusted glare Kenma shot me when I told him that.”  

Kasamatsu hummed. “Back to the housing portal. I hope you didn’t annoy him too much, Kise,” he added, taking his drink from Kuroo with a nod of thanks.

“I’m really not that annoying, senpai!” Kise said with a frown. “Kuroo-san wasn’t annoyed at all.”

“I will admit that I was almost annoyed, and it takes a lot to get me to that point,” Kuroo said, straight-faced, then laughed at the look of betrayal Kise shot him. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding. You don’t give him enough credit, Kasamatsu.”

“Are we doing something today?” Kise asked, steering the conversation away from the current topic.

“I didn’t really plan anything,” Kasamatsu said. “Since I completely forgot this was happening. Sorry.” He looked to Kuroo for help.

“Why don’t we play a board game or something?” Kuroo suggested. “There’s a board game café I know of close by. They should be open today.”

Since nobody had any other ideas, they took his suggestion, and spent a nice afternoon playing board games. Kise turned out to be surprisingly competitive at board games, getting frustrated when Kenma beat him at every game they tried.

“It’s useless to try to beat him,” Kuroo told Kise after he’d lost for the tenth time. “He’s got the favour of the game gods.”

“How do I get their favour? I just want to beat you once,” Kise said, addressing Kenma and getting more frustrated by the second.

“You’ll have to feed them the souls of your friends, so they can inhabit their bodies,” Kenma deadpanned. “You’ll also have to learn how to play the lyre.”

“What kind of souls do they like?” Kise asked, intrigued. Kuroo wasn’t sure if he was just playing along or if he actually believed what Kenma had just said. “Can I offer senpai’s?”

Kasamatsu smacked him on the back of his head. “Oi, you’re not sacrificing me for _board games,_ you brat.”

 

“Kise coming over this weekend?” Kuroo asked Kasamatsu on a Friday a few weeks later. “He hasn’t been here for three weeks.” They had just looked at an apartment, and after a month of fruitless searching, they believed they had found what they wanted. It had been a nice, low-rise, two-bedroom apartment with a decently-sized living room and kitchen. It was also clean and affordable, and Kuroo couldn’t help but think that there had to be some sort of catch. Kasamatsu agreed, but they hadn’t quite figured out what the catch might be.

“No, he’s got a tournament happening, and they’ve made the finals,” Kasamatsu answered his question.

“Oh? Why don’t you go and watch? You don’t have anything important coming up, do you?” Kuroo suggested.

Kasamatsu looked startled at the suggestion, which made Kuroo think it hadn’t even occurred to him.

“Where is it happening?” Kuroo asked. When Kasamatsu shrugged, he asked for the name of the tournament and searched it up on the internet. The search results drew a surprised whistle from him. “It’s happening on campus, Kasamatsu. In our gym.”

The look of surprise on Kasamatsu’s face was comical. “Why didn’t he tell me that?” he muttered, and pulled out his phone to scroll through what Kuroo assumed were Kise’s texts. Kasamatsu let out a strange laugh. “He sent me a text saying I should come watch.”

“And what did you say?” Kuroo asked.

“I told him I didn’t have time.”

“Did you ask him where it was?”

“No,” Kasamatsu said with a groan. “I didn’t even think it could be right here. I just thought he was being…well, _him_ , and suggesting impossible things.”

“Alright then, let’s go watch,” Kuroo said. “I want to see him in action. And you can surprise him by showing up.”

“Do you even like basketball?”

“Not particularly, but it’s a great way to jib. Though I do want to see him play.”  

 

“We’re going to watch Kise play the finals of a tournament,” Kuroo told Kenma the next evening. Kenma didn’t look thrilled at the prospect, but got up to go with them without complaint.

“I didn’t think you’d be interested,” Kasamatsu said.

“Why?” Kenma asked, narrowing his eyes.

“You usually just stay in the room, and only tend to leave when Kuroo bribes you with games or food,” Kasamatsu said.

Kuroo watched as Kenma bristled. “Doesn’t mean I can’t be nice and do something with Kuro without an incentive,” he said, sounding irritated.

“Sorry,” Kasamatsu said quickly. “Didn’t mean to be rude.” He shot Kuroo an apologetic look. “I’ll…go on ahead,” he added and left.

Kenma didn’t look at Kuroo as he grabbed his phone and stuffed it in his pocket. “He thinks I’m a selfish asshole,” he muttered.

“No, he doesn’t,” Kuroo reassured him, tipping Kenma’s chin up so he could look him straight in the eye. “Even if he did, you just set him straight.”

“I don’t think anyone can do _that_ ,” Kenma said, with a slight upturn to his mouth. “Let’s go.”  

They got to the gym after the match had started, and spotted Kasamatsu in the stands. There was a surprisingly large audience there to watch, most of them high schoolers. Kuroo glanced at the score; neither team had managed to score just yet. He spotted Kise’s blond head on the court. The other team was wearing an obnoxious shade of orange, and one of their players had green hair, giving Kuroo the overall impression of a carrot.

“How’re they doing?” he asked Kasamatsu.

“It just started, but they’re even so far. Keeping each other from scoring.”

As soon as he said that, Carrot received a pass and scored a three-pointer with a ridiculously high arc. Kise gained possession of the ball and immediately evened the score with a three-pointer of his own, also with a ridiculously high arc.

“Is that a thing in basketball?” Kuroo asked. “That high arc?”

“Er…not really,” Kasamatsu said. “Kise’s just really good at learning others’ techniques on court.”

Kuroo decided not to question this strange comment, choosing to observe Kise on the court to see if he could figure out what Kasamatsu had meant. Halfway through the game, he hadn’t quite succeeded, but even he could tell Kise was good at basketball based on how effortlessly he seemed to move around the court. Carrot seemed to be good too, with his ridiculous three-pointers, and Kise’s team was trailing by six points when the whistle blew to signal the end of the second quarter. The teams headed towards their benches to grab aqua-coloured energy drinks, drinking while their coach talked to them.

The third quarter started, Kise scoring the first basket. A few minutes later, the teams were even, and the players were starting to look tired. Except Carrot; he still seemed fine and was shooting three-pointers with great accuracy.

“That guy hasn’t missed once,” Kuroo commented.

“He doesn’t,” Kasamatsu muttered. “It’s kind of his thing. Kise spent too much energy in the beginning of the quarter, the idiot.”

Kuroo could see it too, in the way Kise was slowing down on the court.

“Their coach should bench him for the rest of this quarter and put him back in next quarter,” Kenma said. As if on cue, Kise’s school called a substitution for him. He sank on the bench with a wet towel over his head, not watching the game. With him off the court, the other team seemed to find a new gear, taking the lead again. When the whistle sounded to signal the end of the quarter, Carrot’s team was nine points ahead. Not an insurmountable lead, but if they didn’t pick up the pace and stop Carrot from shooting much more, Kise’s team would have a hard time making up the deficit.

“Final quarter; come on!” Kasamatsu said, when the teams walked back on court. Kise scored the first basket again, and then intercepted a pass by a raven-haired player to Carrot, scoring once more. This seemed to energize his team, and with four minutes left in the game, the teams had drawn even again. The next play started with the opposing team in possession of the ball. Kise moved to intercept the ball but somehow missed another player, crashing into him. He fell backward, landing heavily, and didn’t move, clutching his ankle.

“Oh shit, did he roll his ankle when he stepped back?” Kuroo said, concerned. A time-out was called, and his teammates gathered around him, one of them holding out his hand to help Kise up. Kise pushed himself up without help and had a short conversation with his captain, who didn’t look happy at whatever he’d been told, but nodded. The game began again, and Carrot scored another basket, his team taking the lead again. Kise had definitely injured his ankle, because he was running much slower now.

“They should take him off,” Kenma said. “He’s clearly injured.”

“Stubborn idiot probably told them not to,” Kasamatsu said angrily.

Despite being injured, Kise managed to score a basket, leaving his team a point down, but Carrot responded right away with another three-pointer. With a minute to go, Kise’s team was still trailing by four points, most of them running on fumes, by the looks of it. Kise yelled something at his teammates, and was answered with an excellent pass, which he converted into a three-pointer. Another basket by Carrot would seal the victory for his team, but by some miracle, Kise predicted his opponents’ last play, cleverly intercepting the ball before it could get to the shooting guard. He had had to jump to intercept the ball, and stumbled a little on his landing, luckily keeping his grip on the ball. With the clock ticking down into the final seconds, he sidestepped the player screening him, got into position and took the shot.

Kuroo heard Kasamatsu inhale sharply as the ball flew from Kise’s hands, sinking into the basket just before the buzzer sounded. The audience roared, and Kise’s team erupted in cheers, all of them running onto the court to surround him, he now standing so as not to put weight on his injured ankle. One of his teammates helped him to the line when it was time to shake hands with their opponents.

“Looks like he did roll his ankle,” Kuroo said. “It was irresponsible of the coach to keep him on,” he added with a frown. Losing hurt, obviously, but a player’s health should always be a coach’s priority. “Are you going to go congratulate him?” he asked Kasamatsu, who was on his phone, typing something.

“There’s probably going to be a celebration first, so I told him to come over after,” Kasamatsu replied.

Kuroo raised his eyebrows. “As he sows, so shall he reap, huh?” At Kasamatsu’s confused look, he added, “You’re going to make him walk more on his injured ankle?”

“He could always say no if it’s bad,” Kasamatsu replied with a frown. Kuroo bit back his retort. Kasamatsu’s phone buzzed. “He said he’ll be there after the team dinner.”

 

Kuroo was helping Kenma with calculus when his phone buzzed. He picked it up and saw a text from Kise, asking to be let into the building. He showed the text to Kenma, who raised his eyebrows.

“Clever,” he said. Kuroo smirked and got up.

He made his way down and opened the door, letting Kise in.

“Can we take the elevator?” Kise asked him.

Kuroo frowned at him. “How badly did you twist your ankle?” he asked. “You know what, don’t answer that until we get to the room.”

They made it to the room, Kise grimacing with every step. “Hi, senpai,” he said, heading to Kasamatsu’s chair and sinking into it.

“Let me take a look at your ankle,” Kuroo told him. Kise pulled off his shoe and rolled down his sock without complaint. Kuroo let out a whistle at the swollen ankle. 

“What the hell, Kise?” Kasamatsu said. “Why didn’t you get coach to take you to a walk-in?” he asked, eyebrows drawn together.

“You should probably ice the ankle,” Kenma spoke up from his spot on Kuroo’s bed. “Kasamatsu, do you know where to get it?” he added.

“He should just deal with the pain, if he’s dumb enough not to tell coach how bad it is,” Kasamatsu snapped, addressing Kise.

“Kasamatsu,” Kuroo said firmly. “Zen. It was stupid not to tell the coach, but it is what it is. Can you please get some ice?”

Kasamatsu huffed and stalked out to look for ice in the communal kitchen. Kuroo would have lectured Kise more, but he figured the guy could do without it for now. “Good match,” he said instead.

“You were there?” Kise asked, surprised.

“Yeah, we all were. It was fun to watch,” Kuroo answered. “Congratulations on winning the tournament. But maybe don’t pull something like this again,” he couldn’t help adding.

“It was really stupid,” Kenma said, ending the conversation.

Kasamatsu returned with a bag of ice and tossed it on Kise’s lap. “Put your leg up on the bed,” he said. “You can’t go home like this. Call your mom and tell her you’re staying over.”

“I could take the train,” Kise said.

“Don’t be an idiot. Someone’s going to step on your foot and then it’ll be worse,” Kasamatsu said.

“I have a friend who has a car. I’ll ask her to drop you home tomorrow,” Kuroo said. Then he looked at Kasamatsu. “Where’s he going to sleep?”

“I’ll see if I can get a sleeping bag from someone,” Kasamatsu said, heading to the door again.

“You could share the bed,” Kuroo suggested with a grin.

“It’s too small for two people. We’re both fairly tall,” Kasamatsu answered, heading out on his quest for a sleeping bag.

Kuroo looked at Kenma with a suppressed smile. Kenma rolled his eyes and tapped at his textbook to remind Kuroo that his tutoring session wasn’t over yet. Kuroo looked at Kise, who looked a little red. “Are you blushing, Kise?” he asked with a wide grin. 

“Kuro, leave him alone,” Kenma admonished. “You’re not done teaching me.”

“You’re no fun,” Kuroo pouted, turning his attention back to calculus.

 Kise had dozed off by the time Kasamatsu returned, finally having found a sleeping bag. He set the bag down and shook Kise awake.

“You’ll hurt your back if you sleep like that. Take the bed.”

Kise rubbed his eyes. “I can take the bag, senpai,” he said, earning him a glare from Kasamatsu.

“There’s already a wet patch on the bed because of the ice. Just take it, you brat.”

Kise didn’t argue any further, and slid onto the bed, falling asleep almost immediately. Kasamatsu shook his head in annoyance, then started on some homework.

“Don’t forget to fill out your tax forms, yeah?” Kuroo said suddenly. When Kasamatsu looked at him quizzically, he elaborated, “Just got an email from the university reminding me. You probably got one too.”

“Okay?” Kasamatsu said, before going back to his textbook. “You know what seise means? S-E-I-S-E? I don’t even know if I’m saying it right.”

“Hmm? Let me look it up,” Kuroo said, pulling up his dictionary app and typing it in. “‘To put into legal possession of.’ What kind of textbook are you reading?”

“Thanks. It’s calc. Need to find out if the rate of flow is within legal limits,” Kasamatsu replied with a shrug. “The author really likes problems about legal stuff.”

“Probably salty about getting sued or something,” Kuroo supplied. Kasamatsu hummed in answer, focused on the problem. Kuroo saw the exact moment he gave up in frustration, pushing his textbook away from him in disgust.

“I give up,” he declared, stuffing his pen in his pen case and getting up. “Time to sleep. You two should sleep too,” he added.

“You’re right,” Kuroo said, stifling a yawn. “C’mon Kenma, we can finish this tomorrow.” 

 

The next morning, Kuroo was awoken by strange noises that took his sleep-addled brain a minute to recognize as an angry growl followed by a yelp. The sounds had awakened Kenma too, but he just turned towards the wall and pulled the blanket over his head with a grunt. Kuroo considered going back to sleep, but he knew it was a lost cause. Might as well get up and be productive.

“What’s going on?” he asked Kasamatsu, who was glaring at a sheepish-looking Kise.

“This idiot got out of the bed and stepped on me,” Kasamatsu replied. “It’s not funny,” he snapped when Kuroo snorted a laugh.

“It is, though,” Kuroo answered, flashing an amused grin at Kise. “How’s the ankle?”

“It only hurts a little bit now,” Kise answered.

“That’s good,” Kuroo said. He grabbed his phone and fired off a text. “I asked my friend if she can give you a ride back home. You should get it checked out when you get the time. I’m going to go brush my teeth now. Later,” he said, heading to the washrooms. It was still relatively early, which meant they wouldn’t be crowded.

“Hey, Vee,” he greeted his friend, who rolled his eyes at him in the mirror.

“Kasamatsu got someone staying in your room now, too?” Victor asked after he had finished brushing his teeth.

“Oh, did you lend him the sleeping bag?” Kuroo asked, eyebrows raised.

“Yeah. He looked more pissed off than usual so I didn’t ask him who it was for.”

Kuroo laughed. “He _was_ pissed off. Probably still is.”

“So, who was it for?”

“He slept in it.”

Victor frowned. “What’s wrong with his bed?”

“It was occupied,” Kuroo answered, enjoying himself.

“By who?” Victor asked, intrigued.

“A model,” Kuroo said, thoroughly amused by the confusion on Victor’s face at his answer. He pretended not to hear Victor’s following questions, quickly brushed his teeth and washed his face, and headed back to the room.

Kasamatsu was gone—probably to get breakfast—and Kise was sitting on Kasamatsu’s bed, scrolling through his phone. A lump in his bed told him Kenma was still asleep. He considered flopping onto the lump but that would probably end in getting punched by a sleepy and angry Kenma. He checked his phone.

“My friend says she can drop you off in the evening,” he told Kise, who nodded. “Have you eaten?”

“No, senpai said he’d bring me something,” he answered.

Kuroo saw Kise hesitating a bit and looking like he wanted to say something. “Spit it out,” he said, drawing a surprised look from the highschooler.

“I’ve been looking into university programs and there are a few that look interesting,” Kise said.

“That’s good,” Kuroo said approvingly. So Kise had taken his advice after all. “Have you looked at their entrance requirements?”

Kise nodded. “I’ll have to study really hard,” he said. “I don’t know if I’m smart enough to get the marks they want.”

Kuroo considered something, then said, “If you want, I could tutor you.” It would take time away from his studies, which would probably increase exponentially next year, but something still made him offer Kise his help. It was probably his mother hen instinct.

“Really?” Kise asked, his face lighting up. “Kenma told me he’s never failed a test you’ve helped him study for,” he added. “I can pay you.”

“We can decide that later,” Kuroo said. He would have declined, but having a small source of income sounded great. He already did a lot of informal tutoring; somehow word had gotten around that he was great at chemistry, and he would sometimes have complete strangers come up to him and ask for help. Maybe this would also help him win the bet against Kenma. He felt a grin creeping on his face, which he tried to control since he didn’t want Kise to think he was crazy. It was too soon for that. “Let me know when you want to start, and we’ll figure something out.”

 

To Kuroo’s surprise, Kise took him up on his offer to tutor him just a couple of weeks later when he texted him asking if he would be able to help him prepare for a math test coming up. Kise failed to mention that he was barely passing the class and didn’t understand most of the content until he was in his room with his textbooks open.

“What’s going on?” Kasamatsu asked, surprised, walking in on Kuroo trying to explain asymptotes to Kise for the fifth time.  

“I’m trying to work some magic,” Kuroo said.

“Wait…are you _tutoring_ him?” Kasamatsu said incredulously, looking at the open textbooks.

“You don’t have to sound so surprised, senpai,” Kise protested. “I want to get a good mark on my test.”

Kasamatsu looked like he might say something, but then changed his mind and just said, “Good” instead. “You got a spare disk lying around that I can borrow? My professor lives in the last century and won’t accept a USB.”

“Dig around in that box,” Kuroo said, pointing at a box. “Might be some in there.”

“Thanks,” Kasamatsu said. “You never mentioned that you have an entire movie collection sitting right here in our dorm room,” Kasamatsu commented after he had unearthed a blank disk he could use for his project.

Kuroo shrugged. “That would imply I want to watch a movie with you,” he answered with a smirk.

“Like I’d watch any of these with you. ‘ _Seven Brides and Seven Bridesmaids, Sir Von Nacht, Dos Amigos’—_ these all look really shitty,” Kasamatsu replied with a raised eyebrow.

Kuroo pretended to be offended. “They’re _art_. You wouldn’t understand,” he said, wrinkling his nose at his roommate.

“Oh, I’ve seen that last one,” Kise said. “The actors looked like they were being forced to act at gunpoint.”

Kuroo shot a pained, ‘et tu’ look at Kise and snapped the textbook shut. “Well, if you’re going to insult my taste in movies, you can go find someone else to tutor you,” he said, narrowing his eyes at Kise.

“No!” Kise said hurriedly. “You have the best taste in movies I’ve ever seen. Please don’t stop teaching me.”

Kuroo saw Kasamatsu’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise as he watched the exchange. “Where was this eagerness to learn in high school? What are you really after?” he asked.

Kise looked hurt. “Is it really that surprising to see me studying hard?” he asked Kasamatsu. Kasamatsu bit back an immediate retort and narrowed his eyes.

“It does make me suspicious. You only just kept your grades high enough to not be kicked off the team last year. What’s changed?” Kasamatsu questioned.

Kise shrugged. “I decided I want to go to university,” he said, not looking at Kasamatsu.

“Oh,” Kasamatsu said, surprised. “That’s great. Why’d you change your mind?”

Kise mumbled something incoherent and opened the textbook again. “Can you explain this to me again? I think I almost got it last time,” he said, ignoring Kasamatsu, who decided to let Kise’s rudeness slide, surprisingly, and started working on his own project.

“Right, let’s get back to work,” Kuroo said, getting ready to explain the concept of a vertical asymptote for the sixth, and hopefully final, time. “So, tell me what you understood so far out of what I’ve explained?”

“Uh…a vertical asymptote is a vertical line on a graph, and…um…” Kise said, faltering at the end. “You can’t cross it? Ever?”

“Yup,” Kuroo said. “You can’t cross it, but you _can_ …?” he said, prompting Kise to fill in the blank.

“Uh…”

“You can’t cross it but you can get close to it,” Kuroo supplied. “This is always true for a vertical asymptote, okay? But for a horizontal asymptote, you can have exceptions, like this one here,” he said, pointing out a graph in the textbook.

“So it’s kind of like having a crush. A single crush is like a horizontal asymptote and a crush in a relationship is like a vertical asymptote,” Kise said.

“What,” Kuroo said.

“Oi, focus on math, idiot,” Kasamatsu snapped, not even looking up from his computer. “Not on useless analogies.”

“It does work though,” Kuroo said with a grin. “I’m impressed.”

Kise narrowed his eyes at him, clearly not trusting the grin, which only made Kuroo grin wider. Kenma had told him he reminded him of the Cheshire Cat when he looked like that. It was great for making people uncomfortable.

 

After spending another hour and a half on math, Kise and Kuroo both decided to call it a day, and Kise packed up his stuff. Kasamatsu still looked a little shocked at the fact that Kise had sought a tutor for help, but he had refrained from expressing the shock any further. Which was just as well, Kuroo thought. Too much disbelief could discourage Kise and make him stop asking Kuroo to tutor him, which would mean no tutoring money, and probably also a lost bet.

“You should hurry, or you’ll miss the train,” Kasamatsu said.

“Why are you so eager to get rid of me, Senpai?” Kise asked with a pout.

“Because I don’t want an idiot brat in my room anymore,” Kasamatsu deadpanned, causing Kise to protest with a whine.

“Oh, by the way,” Kise said, breaking off mid-whine, “Our mas met in the grocery store the other day and they’re best friends now. I think they’re planning a lunch for both our families the next time you come home to visit.”

“Great, I’ll have to spend more time than I already do with you,” Kasamatsu said, shaking his head. “Of all the mothers she could have met.”

“It’s fate,” said Kise, brightly.

“Much as I enjoy this banter, if you don’t get your ass to the station soon, fate is going to have you stay over tonight, and I really need to get some work done now,” Kuroo interjected. “Out.”

 

“I can’t believe you’ve been tutoring him four hours a week,” Kasamatsu said one day after another one of Kuroo’s tutoring sessions with Kise. He sounded like he still couldn’t believe that the sessions had become a regular thing.

“I’m always this kind,” Kuroo said, with a hand on his heart.

Kasamatsu raised his eyebrows. “How much are you charging him?”

“Wow, I can’t believe you think I wouldn’t do this out of the goodness of my heart,” Kuroo said, mock offended. “I charge him 3000 yen an hour.”

Kasamatsu whistled. “Isn’t that a little high?” 

“The kid has a modeling job. He can afford it.”

“Fair enough.”

**Author's Note:**

> Words used: jog, ay, and, of, ah, pi, ho, souls, lyre, jib, aqua, sows, zen, tax, seise, vee, disk, brides, von, dos, et, mas.


End file.
